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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

What I Learned Wednesday: 25 May 2011

Cousin bait works.

It really does pay to do those “Surname Saturday” type posts.

When I write these posts, I try to include a section on “information I am still missing,” or sometimes it may be a little mystery that is connected with the family being featured. And last week a wonderful gentlemen stepped up and sent me an e-mail to answer my question about Lora Mae Scott, the only daughter of Leander Scott and Elizabeth Ann Brinlee (my grandfather’s older sister). I thought she must have died early, but she survived to marry and have a family. And this genea-angel sent me an obituary for one of her sons as well as an article showing that she had attended a birthday party for her stepfather in 1934. Thank you, Jay Odom!

Both articles have a lot of names, and I have figured out many of the connections, but not all. I do know that one of the names shows up as the undertaker on the death certificate of Lora Mae's son-in-law.

I find Lora Mae on the 1900 census twice - once with her mother and stepfather and once with her husband Joseph Duckworth. I also find her on the 1930 census with her mother and stepfather, although her age is incorrectly given as “9”. Her relationship to her stepfather Harve Mulder is given as “adopted daughter.” (Previously I could not figure out who this was, even though her first name is given as Lora and the relationship is correctly stated.) So far I have not found her on the 1910 or 1920 censuses. On the 1910 census, her twin sons are shown living with her parents, and on the 1920 census, one of the sons and her daughter are shown living with her parents; I do not know yet where the third child was in each case. More work to do....

By 1917, when her husband Joseph Duckworth has registered for the World War I draft, the couple must have separated; he lists his wife’s name as Georgia.

The main thing that led me to believe in Lora Mae’s early death was that on the 1910 census, the children born/children still surviving figures for her mother Elizabeth were 8 and 7, and I knew that the other seven children were still living at this time.

There is something else that is strange - on Family Search, I found Lora Mae Scott indexed to the death record of her son Roy Duckworth - but her name did not appear anywhere on the death certificate. So perhaps on the “Feedback” feature people are entering additional information? I notice on the record page (not the image) that her name is in bold.

Cousin bait definitely works! I had a cousin stumble across my blog about our common ancestor last week and we've been corresponding and collaborating ever since! I'm happy that you were able to hook a good one! :)

I had never heard the term "cousin bait" until I started my own blog. It's so true, though! I'm having fun meeting the cousins I've managed to snag, and many of them have been SO helpful. Congrats on your bite!

Barbara - Isn't it strange? I mean, I know that's why we post our information and our queries, but when the answer comes in, it's always quite a (nice) surprise.

Jenny - Your experience is part of a real trend in the past week or two - I know it happens to most of us genea-bloggers, but there seems to have been a real wave of cousin contacts and genea-angels recently.

Wendy - Randy S. credits me with coining the term; whether it showed up first here or not, it definitely describes the purpose - and I just love when it works!

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About Me

After spending my formative years paying no heed to all the family stories, I got hooked on genealogy later in life and am now trying to catch up. My husband and I had long ago developed an interest in graveyards and have enjoyed visiting them while on vacation. I have started two Graveyard Rabbit blogs as a way, in addition to my participation in Findagrave, to help make information to other people who are researching their family history.
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